Transcript The Great Emergence - St. John in the Wilderness Church

The Great Emergence:
How Christianity
Is Changing and Why
From the book by Phyllis Tickle, c. 2008
by Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI
The Rev. Marilyn Baldwin
St. John in the Wilderness Episcopal Church
White Bear Lake, MN
June, 2009
Emergence, Emersion

The emerging church (sometimes
referred to as the emergent movement) is
a Christian movement of the late 20th and
early 21st century that crosses a number
of theological boundaries: participants can
be described as evangelical, postevangelical, liberal, post-liberal,
charismatic, neocharismatic, and postcharismatic. (Wikipedia)
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Emerging Church

Proponents… call it a "conversation" to
emphasize its developing and decentralized
nature, its vast range of standpoints and its
commitment to dialogue. What those involved in
the conversation mostly agree on is their
disillusionment with the organized and
institutional church and their support for the
deconstruction of modern Christian worship,
modern evangelism, and the nature of modern
Christian community. (Wikipedia)
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The Great Emergence
 Part
I: What Is It?
 Part
II: How Did It Come To Be?
 Part
III: Where Is It Going?
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Part I: What Is It?
Changes slipped into our lives somewhat
unnoticed, unheralded in late 20th Century
 Affect every part of our lives
 Interface with/context for all aspects

Social
 Culture
 Politics
 Economics

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“The World Is Flat Again”
Classic economics applies less to service
economies than production-based ones
 National borders, loyalties not as strong as
before
 Small nations can hold large ones hostage



Technology, knowledge have leveled playing
field
Traditional privilege no longer a given
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Examples

“Information overload” at all levels
To-do lists are endless
 Dependent upon technology outside ourselves
for even simple tasks

 Simple
calculations
 Computer, phone issues disrupt lives

Where is the line between human and
machine?
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How Does This Apply To Religion?
(specifically, North American Christianity)
About every five hundred years the
Church feels compelled to hold a giant
rummage sale….
 We are living in and through one of
those five-hundred-year sales.

---Phyllis Tickle, quoting The Rt. Rev. Mark Dyer,
Retired Anglican Bishop
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Understanding History*
Pattern of 500-years helpful to
understanding and reassurance
 Empowered structures become unwieldy
 Must be shaken off so that new growth
may occur

* “Those who do not understand history are
doomed to repeat it” ---George Santayana
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Three Results or Corollary Events

New, more vital form of Christianity emerges
Former dominant form becomes “more pure and
less ossified” version of itself

= two new creatures where there was one
Faith has then spread dramatically into new
geographic and demographic areas


Increasing exponentially range and depth of
Christianity

Eg., Reformation forced changes upon Roman Church
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Rummage Sales
When the Church Cleans Out Its Attic

500 Years Ago: Great Reformation
(16th Century) growth in relative importance for
religion & culture
 Luther: October 31, 1517

 Others
had made rumblings for at least a century
 Other changes went on for at least a century more

Wycliff, Zwingli, Knox, Calvin, Hooker
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Rummage Sales (cont.)

500 Years Earlier: Great Schism (1054)
Cultural, theological, practical differences
between Eastern and Western Churches
 Symbolic habits, rituals, sacred means

 Eastern:
(Constantinople) Leavened bread, Greek
language, Spirit descended from God the Father
 Western: (Rome) Unleavened bread, Latin, Spirit
descends from Father and Son (filioque clause)
Rome excommunicated Constantinople
 Constantinople declared Rome anathema

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Rummage Sales (cont.)

500 Years Earlier: (Late 6th Century)
Pope Gregory (I) the Great (590-604)
 “Cleanup” after the Fall of the Roman Empire
(Rome sacked, 410; fell, 476; Senate
disbanded in 480)
 Council of Chalcedon, 451: Issues

 Nature
of Jesus’ Incarnation: divinity vs. humanity
 Whether Mary was “Mother of God” or of human

Eastern, Western, Oriental Christianity
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Gregory and the Monastics

Growing lawlessness, illiteracy of culture
Commoners, minor clergy left with little official
religious practice or scriptural study
 Thanks to Gregory (and Benedict before him)

 Convents,
monasteries became repositories for
early treasures of Church and learning

Power rested in religious communities and
especially their leaders
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First Century CE
Obviously most important to Christian faith
 Christianity born out of Judaism



Birth, public ministry, teachings, crucifixion,
Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth changed
everything
Judaism itself forever changed

70 CE Temple destroyed; 130 Jews barred
 Jews
dispersed; epochs of human time redated
 Much of Church born in those 60 years
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Inner Workings of Rummage Sales
We are on the cusp of 500-year change
 We are also the product of one, and all
those before
 Need to gauge present pain against
patterns and gains of previous “hinge
times”
 No structure has been lost; only changed
by new, not-yet-organized form

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“Re-Traditioning” Diana Butler Bass

Apostolic tradition did not cease to be

Canon, Augustinian theology, mysticism still
with us
Monastic tradition did not cease but still
influences us
 Roman Catholicism’s power, ritual, and
theology still inform us
 Protestant Christianity still important


Emphasis on literacy, Scripture
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Broader Upheaval

Colonized Christianity changing in lessdeveloped countries, cultures


More sharing, egalitarian assumptions
Similar issues in Judaism
500 years BC: Babylonian Captivity,
destruction of Solomon’s Temple
 1000 BC: End of Age of Judges, David’s
monarch established

 Great

Transformation: Emergence of humanity
Similarities in Islam? (Shorter history)
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Cable Of Meaning (after Tickle, p. 35)
Waterproof covering (history of community)
Mesh sleeve (common imagination)
Spirituality
Corporeality
Morality
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A Holy Tether
Consider “generic religion” – belief system
 Humanity secured by tether to greater
meaning


“If there were no god, we would have to invent
one”
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Cable Of Meaning Explained
Waterproof covering = story of community
 Mesh sleeve = common imagination



Not necessarily true, but “truth” of community
Three strands:
Spirituality: Naming central experiences &
values of individuals and community
 Corporeality: Physically embodied religion
 Morality: Application, enactment of values

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Cable To Meaning

All well as long as cable is intact, suffers
no major blow
Story and shared illusion are struck a blow
simultaneously – major change in culture
 “Religious duct tape” seals off changes for
awhile

 Healing

takes place; new shared values
Cultural change cycle starts all over again
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The Great Emergence
 Part
I: What Is It?
 Part
II: How Did It Come To Be?
 Part
III: Where Is It Going?
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